In the Dark of the Night
by Sang-Argente
Summary: A series of nights between Tony and the rest of N.C.I.S. Based around the "he does his best work at night" comment by Gibbs in SWAK. Could have slash/het/angst/humor/graphic scenes!
1. Night 1

**A/N: I have no idea where all these ideas are coming from and I'm probably getting deep into some seriousness by starting more multi-chapters and series when I haven't gotten anywhere close to finishing the ones I have buuut...I still hope you enjoy it!  
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><p>Sweat soaked cotton sheets wrapped around a restless body, tangling between arms and legs. The man on the bed whined in clear distress, shoving at pillows and knocking things off the nightstands on either side of the bed. Finally, after long hours of tossing and turning, the sleeping man shot up in bed, eyes wide and frightened.<p>

"No!" Tony screamed, still trapped in his nightmare. "Not Gibbs!"

He sat there shivering, surrounded by cooling blankets, as his mind caught up with him and the hazy dreamworld lifted. Trembling with fading fear and adrenalin, he climbed out of bed, dressed in a quickly put together outfit, and made his way to N.C.I.S.

~X~

At midnight, the bullpen was somewhat lacking of the energy that charged the atmosphere during the day. However, this wasn't the first time Tony had shown up there after his work hours. Previous excursions taught him how to sneak past security guards and when the night team normally got a case. He would always be at his desk working by the time they came back from processing the crime scene.

The sound of the elevator doors opening made him raise his head. He flushed when he locked eyes with Abby, the forensic scientist. Despite having worked at N.C.I.S. for almost six months, the little goth still didn't like him; she was always glaring at him when he saw her.

Dropping his head back down, Tony focused all of his attention on the cold case file on his desk, straining to ignore the sounds of Abby clunking through the bullpen.

"Why are you here?"

A quick glance upward let Tony know that the goth had made her way to his desk.

"I work here," he muttered, scribbling notes into the file.

Abby threw her bag onto Tony's desk, startling him and making him push his chair back to look at her. He sighed, dragging a hand down his face before saying, "Is there something you need?"

"Why. Are. You. Here." Abby grit out, her normally pale face flushing darkly.

Tony sighed. "If you must know, I couldn't sleep. I came here to look at some case files."

Rolling her eyes, Abby sneered as she said, "Yeah. Right. Suck up."

"Excuse me?" Tony's eyes narrowed, hot anger flaring through him.

"You're a suck up," Abby accused. "Just because you're some hotshot cop from Baltimore in a designer suit that makes you look like a model does not mean you get everything you want. Especially here."

Disbelieving, Tony stared at her with his jaw dropped. "I never said anything like that!"

"No," Abby conceded. Then anger sparked in her eyes again. "But I knew guys like you in high school. You're all the same."

This time it was Tony who scoffed. "Trust me, you did _not _know guys like me when you were in high school."

"Popular, handsome, athletic boy who charmed all the teachers and had a pretty cheerleader for a girlfriend," she described meanly.

"Try a loner, short and scrawny, with no girlfriends and being _hated _by all of my drill instructors," Tony paused. He tilted his head before continuing in an accepting voice, "But, you're right, I was still athletic."

Abby copied Tony and tilted her head, her green-gray eyes cloudy with confusion. "Drill instructors?"

Tony was confused, too. "Haven't you read my file?"

Shaking her head, Abby blushed in shame as she said, "No. I wanted to but Gibbs said I couldn't."

"That's probably because he's read the whole thing," he said ruefully. "If he did, of course he wouldn't want you to read it. He may not care about me, exactly, but he does want me to trust him. Letting someone I barely know read my disaster of a file, must of which is censured anyway, would definitely _not _be a way to earn my trust."

The gothic girl walked around Tony's desk and dropped to the floor beside his chair. She gazed up at him with wonder and empathy in her eyes.

"Will you tell me?" she asked, leaning her back against the desk.

He sighed and slid out of his chair to sit across from her, leaning against the filing cabinet. "You're in for a long night."

Abby flicked open her phone. "Early morning," she replied seeing the time. She flicked the phone closed again and looked at the man in front of her. "Better get cracking."

Dropping his head back against the cabinet, Tony sighed again and began, "All right. In a galaxy far, far away-"

"Tone-E!" Abby flung a leg out and kicked him lightly in the shin with her boot. "Can't you be serious for once?"

He winced and shook his head, muttering, "Sorry, Abby. It's a tough subject to talk about."

"We've got approximately four hours. If you want this wrapped up before Gibbs gets in, that is."

"Let's do this," Tony cracked his fingers and leaned forward. "Short and sweet. My mother was an alcoholic suicide who like to dress me like a doll. My father is a money hungry child abuser with a taste for scotch and young women. I spent my childhood around the staff. I speak four languages as a result: Spanish, Italian, French, and German. Also, I've got the basics in ASL down due to a deaf stable boy. I was disowned when I was twelve because Senior found out I was tonguing the cook's son. Sent off to Rhode Island Military Academy. Graduated and became a Phys Ed major at Ohio State. Busted my knee in a game, took supplementary classes to do a double major in Psychology. Bounced around in some police departments before Gibbs picked me up in Baltimore six months ago. Any questions?"

"J-just one," Abby stuttered out. "Why do I feel like that was a _supremely _watered down version of your life?"

"Because it is," Tony stated. "You don't need the details. That's the big picture. Satisfied?"

"No. . ." she trailed off, turning watery eyes onto Tony.

He threw his hands up in exasperation, "What more do you want?"

Sniffing quickly, she launched across the little space that was between them and wrapped her arms around him, burying her face in his neck.

"Abby?" he asked in shock.

"You need a best friend!" she replied, her voice muffled as she pushed her words out onto his skin. "And now that I know that, I'm going to be yours!"

"Uh. . ." Tony trailed off. "Thanks?"

She nodded quickly, "No problem."

After a few more minutes of sitting there, being embraced by the little goth, Tony felt her pull back. This time, the anger was back in her gaze.

"What?" he asked, immediately on the defensive.

Abby grinned like a shark. "The first time I meet your father, I'm going to stomp on his toes!"

Tony blinked, bewildered, before bursting into laughter. He threw his head back against the cabinet and chuckled quietly, amused at her torture choice.

"Thanks, Abby," he said sometime later, wiping away the wetness in his eyes his fit had caused.

"Abs," she said seriously. "Since we're best friends now, you can call me Abs."

He nodded and pulled her into a hug, "All right."

"Tony?" Abby poked him in the side.

"Yeah?" he asked, feeling happy for the first time in a long time.

She shifted a little before asking, "Why couldn't you sleep?"

That happiness plummeted right back into happy-happy-kill me now land. "Nightmares," he answered, expecting Abby to take that and start a whole new interrogation.

However, all she did was snuggle closer and sigh. "Poor Tony. You're all broken. . .But that's okay. You have a family now, here at N.C.I.S., and we'll help you put yourself back together again."

He tightened his arms and laid his head on top of hers, "Thanks, Abs."

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><p><strong>AN: So tell me whatcha think! (please and thank you)  
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	2. Night 2

**A/N: Hey, guys! Hope you've enjoyed the looong break(not really) and hope even more you enjoy this update(really)! Just so you know, this is NOT a 'story' like with a exposition, rising action, climax, falling action, and resolution. This is more like a series of snapshots. There is no underlying plot. Just for a reference, the first night took place when Tony was still green at NCIS. This night takes place the night Kate is hired. The next night will be Tony's 2 year anniversary and so forth. Enjoy!  
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><p>Tony's face was lit by the eerie glow of the computer screen in front of him. His eyes bounced back and forth in time with his fingers as he typed, watching the little black letters appear on the screen to create the words that would make up his report of the past 24 hours.<p>

_'Gibbs hired a new agent. Without even asking me what I thought of her.'_

The thought was unwanted and Tony tried to push it away quickly. There was no change of pace in his typing.

_'I'm not good enough.'_

Again, Tony's work was interrupted by a dark thought. This one, however, he could not dismiss nearly as easily as the other one. Why else would Gibbs have hired Kate unless she could do something that Tony couldn't? Licking his lips, Tony tried to ignore his private thoughts and keep working.

_'He doesn't need me anymore.'_

Tony stopped, his fingers trembling. Was that it? Tony wasn't needed anymore? That was all he'd wanted to be to Gibbs- needed. But maybe he had just been a placeholder. Maybe he'd just been a consolation prize while Gibbs had been off looking for a better agent. And now he that he had found one, what would happen to Tony? Closing his eyes, Tony inhaled deeply and tried to push the rising panic back down to manageable levels. He had almost succeeded when a gruff voice broke the silence around him.

"Working hard, DiNozzo?"

Spinning around in his desk chair, Tony turned to the side partition wall that separated his desk from the rest of the bullpen.

"Boss! Uh. . .hi," he waved meekly. "What are you doing here so late on such a fine evening?"

Calculating blue eyes stared at Tony while their owner replied, "Just dropping off some paperwork."

Tony shifted in his chair, the unreadable gaze making him nervous and uncomfortable. Had Gibbs fired him already and now he was here to break the news? He opened his mouth but before he could even get the question on his lips, he was cut off.

"I want everything to be straightened out before Kate gets here tomorrow."

On the inside, Tony flinched. That was almost as good as Gibbs cleaning out Tony's desk for him. On the outside, however, he kept a calm and curious air about him. "Straightened out?"

Gibbs nodded and said, "Seems Tom thinks we can do well enough on our own. He's wondering why I wanted Kate."

_'So am I!' _Tony wanted to scream, but managed to keep those words bit back and let Gibbs finish what he was saying. Gibbs didn't speak much but when he did, Tony hung onto every word.

"I told him that most teams had three people so it'd be fine if the Major Crimes Response Team did, too."

"Three?" Tony blurted, then winced. He wished he could pull back all the insecurity and hope that was in that word but it was too late. Gibbs had already heard him and, if Tony went by the glint in his eyes, he was not happy.

"Well, yeah," Gibbs snorted. "Jeez, DiNozzo, did you think I was going to fire you?"

This time, Tony couldn't hide the flinch.

Gibbs's gaze softened and he came around the little wall to stand on the other side of Tony's desk. He tapped Tony lightly on the back of the head before dropping his heavy hand down on the younger man's shoulder.

"Hey," he said softly, crouching carefully on the floor beside Tony's chair so they would be at eye level with each other. Tony tried to turn his face away, not wanting to see the harshness on Gibbs's face. "Hey, look at me."

Shaking his head, Tony was not expecting to be grabbed by his chin and turned so he would be looking at Gibbs. He started to ramble. "I'm sorry, Boss, I didn't mean anything—I mean, I didn't really think you would—are you—what?"

Gibbs was smiling at the younger man, a gentle expression on his face. "Believe it or not, Tony, you're the best thing that's ever happened to the MCRT. The best thing that's ever happened to me."

Tony started to scoff in disbelief but was stopped by the look Gibbs was giving him. "But—I mean—That can't be—What about Ducky? Or all your ex-wives?"

Snorting quietly, Gibbs shook his head. "None of my marriages ever worked for a reason, Tony. Ducky's a great friend. He's there to listen whenever I need him."

"So what makes me any more special?"

"Unlike Ducky, you aren't afraid to tell me when I'm doing something that you don't agree with or you think could be done in a better way. And while Ducky scolds me for not taking care of myself properly, I think you would actually carry out that threat you made a few weeks ago."

Tony remembered the time Gibbs was talking about. It had been a long, bloody case. The kind every cop, no matter if they were Metro or Navy, hoped they never came across. And, of course, kids had been involved. He had a couple of guesses about _why_ cases with kids set Gibbs off but he'd never voice them. Not because he thought he was wrong, but because he was scared that he was right.

But just like with every other case that involved kids, Gibbs had completely forgotten all about himself and threw everything he had into the investigation. Tony had watched him closely throughout the whole thing but as soon as the bad guys had been caught, he was quick to give Gibbs the what-for. That led to him threatening that if Gibbs didn't start taking better care of himself, Tony would personally see to it that he was. Even if he had to put him in one of those harnesses that hassled parents put their overactive children in.

"You're damn right I would!" Tony nodded fiercely. "Your life isn't something to play around with and when you forget to eat or sleep for days on end, that's playing around. Gibbs, you can't just _do _that forever and expect nothing will come out of it!"

Gibbs smiled and nodded along with Tony. "I know. And I don't care. But you do. And that's why I keep you around."

That brought Tony up short. Blinking, he croaked out a quiet, "What?"

"You care," Gibbs repeated, looking him dead in the eye.

"So. . ." Tony said slowly. "You keep me around. . .because. . .I _care_?"

The older man nodded again, but now Tony was overcome by exasperation.

"Jesus, Gibbs!" He threw his hands in the air, narrowly missing the other man's face. "Haven't you ever had anyone care about you before?"

Gibbs shook his head and said simply, "Not like you do."

Tony sighed heavily and dropped his head down, propping his chin up on the palm of his hand. The two men sat in a companionable silence for several minutes before, finally, Tony spoke.

"All right," he said quietly, not wanting to disturb the peace that had fallen between the two of them. "What about Kate?"

"What about her?" Gibbs shrugged and shook his head. "She's not here to _replace _you, Tony. She's here to _help _you. It's not like she's got what it takes to be my second in command, or watch my six like you do."

Tony threw him a cheesy grin. "I do it 'cause I _care._"

Gibbs rolled his eyes and stood. They both winced at the soft cracking that came from his knees. "Okay, pow wow's over. It's time to get home."

"Aw, but Gibbs!" Tony whined. "We didn't even braid our hair or paint our nails!"

Striding towards the elevator, Gibbs shot the younger man a look over his shoulder. "Maybe next time, DiNozzo."

Wincing at the return of his last name, Tony hurriedly shut down his computer and grabbed his back from the floor beside his desk.

"Alright, alright, I'm coming! Jeez. Hey, Gibbs, hold the elevator! Gibbs? Aw, damn it!"

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><p><strong>AN:So how was it? Did you all like it? Love it? Want more of it? Review and let me know!  
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